Report: Most businesses still optimistic about 2013

Business leaders from the region continue to be optimistic that business conditions will improve, but the level of enthusiasm has dropped compared to a year ago, according to a new survey.

First Niagara Bank, based in Buffalo, N.Y., polled 361 business leaders spanning Connecticut and western Massachusetts, with the results released Jan. 15.

About 35 percent of respondents said they expect economic conditions to improve over the next year, while 31 percent said they expect conditions to worsen.

When the survey was conducted a year ago, 41 percent had said they expected conditions to improve, with 24 percent saying they expected conditions to worsen.

“The survey shows that business leaders are looking at 2013 being a better year for their companies and for business conditions in the Connecticut and Massachusetts economies, but with the knowledge they are operating in the reality of the ‘new normal,’” said David Ring, managing director of Enterprise Banking for First Niagara, in a press release.

“Most importantly, these business executives in southwestern New England continue to invest in their companies and their people and market and sell products and services as they await a more robust economy,” he said.

About the author

Jennifer Bissell was a reporter for both the Fairfield and Westchester business journals from 2012-2014. She attended the University of Minnesota and contributed to several regional publications including the St. Paul Pioneer Press, St. Cloud Times and Twin Cities Business magazine.

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